Well, summertime is nearly over. As I look ahead to fall I figured I'd try to find some good suggestions for what to do in September to keep the garden going:
From the Virginia Cooperative Extension there's a long list of suggestions including:
- Tomatoes need an average daily temperature of 65 degrees F or more for ripening. If daytime temperatures are consistently below this, pick the fruits that have begun to change color and bring them inside to ripen.
- Cucumber beetles, squash bugs, Colorado potato beetles, and European corn borers pass the winter in debris left in the garden. Remove dead plant material, and compost it or plow it under. This will limit your pest population next year to the insects that migrate into the garden.
- Plant spinach, lettuce, kale, turnip, and radish in early September as the last crops for your fall garden. Soak seed furrows well before sowing seed, and mulch lightly. Water the rows daily to promote germination and growth of young seedlings.
Backyard Gardener has a September To-Do list for each hardiness zone. (we're zone 7, by the way):
- Set out transplants of cool-weather vegetables
- Prune cane fruits such as raspberries and blackberries
- Plant winter pansies and fall annuals (calendula, dianthus, ornamental cabbage and kale)
- Plant peonies
- Plant fall-blooming bulbs to brighten up fading window boxes, planters and in drifts among ornamental grasses
- Continue to harvest herbs and flowers for drying
- Divide peonies, bearded iris and other spring- and summer-blooming perennials
- Plant bareroot trees and shrubs
- Order sweet pea seedlings for fall planting
- Plant herbs and groundcovers as the weather cools
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